The information technology of today has grown at an unprecedented rate as a result of the synergistic marriage of communication networks and the computer. Milestones in the development of these communication networks have included the telephone networks, radio, television, cable, and communication satellites. Computers have made tremendous progress from being a single, hulking machine operated by a human operator to today's postage-stamp-size integrated circuits. The merging of the communication networks and the computer has replaced the model of forcing workers to bring their work to the machine to a model of allowing anyone to access information on any computers at diverse locations and times.
Certain barriers exist for the continuing advancement of communication networks. Communication networks have leveraged from the powerful processing capability of a single computer processor. To increase processing throughput, multiple processors may be engaged in a parallel architecture. Whereas a single processor may access resources for processing in an orderly manner, each processor in a multiple-processor environment competes with the others for access to resources to complete its own processing workload. In this environment, a resource can be changed or altered by any of the processors. Such changes by a processor, thus, could adversely affect the operation of other processors that are not privy to the change made by the controlling processor.
Thus, systems, devices, structures, and methods are needed to allow resources to be shared in a multiple-processor environment.